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Measuring Wraparound Fidelity to Make Quality Improvements

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Abstract

Wraparound care coordination has offered an individualized family approach to providing services to families in our county for the past decade. Instigated by our county mental health department interested in providing quality improvements to mental health services for families, we assessed the wraparound care coordination process through use of the Wraparound Fidelity Index (WFI), which measures adherence to established principles of wraparound. This article reports on findings from WFI data collected over three summers and reported back to the management team and family organization. Improvements were decided through consensus and included recommendations of parents and care coordinators. The goal of our study was to identify which activities and supports of wraparound were in need of improvement, enact quality improvements to address these areas and determine whether we were doing a better job over time.

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References

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Acknowledgments

The author thanks the youth, parents, caregivers, and care coordinators for their input and participation in this project which has improved services to all families. The Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration, Children’s Mental Health Services Grant SM-03-009 and Erie County, NY Department of Mental Health funded this work.

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Correspondence to Joan B. Kernan.

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Kernan, J.B. Measuring Wraparound Fidelity to Make Quality Improvements. Community Ment Health J 50, 903–908 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-014-9714-y

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10597-014-9714-y

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